In its sharpest-ever attack in open court, the SC asked whether the Centre intends to bring the entire judiciary to a “grinding halt” by sitting on recommendations of the Collegium for appointment and transfer of judges to High Courts across the country.

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur made it clear to the Centre, represented by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, that the court would not shy away from a confrontation with the government if driven to a corner.

The CJI cautioned the government that if matters continued in the same vein, the court would be forced to intervene judicially and call for every file of every recommendation forwarded by the Collegium to the government for clearance.

Chief Justice Thakur had made an emotional appeal at a convocation last April in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the rising burden of judges due to vacancies and pendency.

He was not satisfied with Mr. Rohatgi’s assurances that the issue would be taken up at the “highest level.”

100 MILLION FOR 100 MILLION CAMPAIGN FOR YOUTH

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi announced that he was planning to launch a campaign — 100 million for 100 million.

It will target 100 million youth, whose idealism, energy and enthusiasm would help liberate the 100 million children shackled in slavery and poverty across the world.

An easy way to direct the energy of the young people in universities, colleges and schools is to make them champions, spokespersons and leaders for children, the Nobel laureate said

“For an individual, it is very important to be educated and good quality education is much more rewarding.

A single year of schooling at primary level would result in an additional return of 10 to 15 per cent income in the later stage of life; similarly, every single year of secondary education would increase income by 20 to 25 per cent,” he said.

A study conducted by the World Bank some years ago in 50 different countries proved with empirical evidence that one single year of education in whole society increased the GDP by 0.37 per cent.

Though the country had produced a large number of engineers, around 80 per cent of them were unemployable.

“The question is whether we want to create fuel of economic engine or those who can care for the nation, and global society,” Mr. Satyarthi said.

The Nobel laureate urged teachers to “Listen to your students; the parents of students; the situation. We have to learn from the children, educators must learn what is happening in technology, the learning process must go on.”

GOVT WORKING TO STRENGTHEN ANTI-TERROR LAWS

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the NDA government was working on strengthening anti-terror laws and providing legal protection for undercover operations to investigating agencies.

Addressing the first National Conference of Investigating Agencies, Mr. Singh said the government is committed to punishing terrorists and is working to strengthen the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.

Mr. Singh said that due to the widespread use of social media by terrorists, new threats have been emerging in the country.

“To face these challenges, the present capabilities of specialised organisations like India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) need to be strengthened,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the Central government is committed to the empowerment and development of Dalits, and has created an atmosphere where the community can approach the police without hesitation if they are victimised.

JOINT STATEMENT ON NAGA PEACE TALK ISSUED

Almost a year after the framework agreement on Naga peace talks was finalised, the Centre and the NSCN-IM issued a joint statement saying they were “closer than ever before to the final settlement and hope to conclude it sooner than later.”

The joint statement, issued by government interlocutor for Naga talks R.N. Ravi and NSCN-IM general secretary, said the political initiative of the two sides to amicably resolve the Naga political issue has received a new urgency during the last two years.

The Centre had signed the framework agreement with NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015 at a much-publicised ceremony at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.

The peace dialogue has become more purposeful, less ritualistic and far more frequent.

The signing of the framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 18 years with first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

CHINA SAYS INDIA CAN STILL GET NSG MEMBERSHIP

As Chinese Foreign Minister began his three-day India visit from Goa, a commentary in the state-run Xinhua news agency stated that the door is not shut on India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

The write-up pointed out that “so far, there is no precedent for a nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatory to become an NSG member”.

Any future discussions need to be based on safeguarding an international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism, in which India itself has a huge stake.”

Without stating that a quid pro quo could be in the offing, the article followed its observations on India’s stalled bid for the NSG with an elaboration of the South China Sea issue.

China insists on a direct dialogue among the disputants on the South China Sea issue.

:: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY ::

INFLATION AT TWO YEAR HIGH

Retail inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 6.07 per cent in July due to higher food prices, official data showed.

Industrial output for the first quarter of 2016-17 has grown by just 0.6 per cent. While the index of industrial production (IIP) rose 2.1 per cent in June 2016.

Inflation in the food category of the Consumer Price Index accelerated to 8 per cent in July from 7.5 per cent in June.

Inflation in the housing segment remained flat at 5.4 per cent in July, while that in the fuel and light segment slowed to 2.75 per cent in July from 2.9 per cent in June.

Inflation in the clothing and footwear segment accelerated to 5.2 per cent from 5 per cent in June.

Analysts said higher inflation will make it challenging for the Reserve Bank of India to meet its inflation target of 5 per cent set for March 2017.

“While the pace of growth (of IIP) still remains low, there was an improvement across the board,” according to a report by Crisil.

The growth in the IIP in June was mainly driven by the electricity sector, which grew 8.3 per cent in that month compared to 4.7 per cent in June.

Manufacturing sector growth remained subdued at 1 per cent in June, up from 0.6 per cent in May. Activity in the mining and quarrying sector also picked up with the sector growing at 4.7 per cent in June compared to 1.4 per cent in May.

The capital goods sector, however, contracted 16.5 per cent in June compared to a contraction of 12.35 per cent. The consumer durables segment slowed marginally to 5.6 per cent in June from 6 per cent in May.

EXPORTS SHRINK AGAIN IN JULY

After rising for the first time in 18 months in June, exports shrank again in July, contracting 6.84 per cent due to decline in shipments of engineering goods and petroleum products.

Gold imports, which till recently was a matter of concern for the government, more than halved to $1.08 billion in the month. Merchandise exports totalled $21.69 billion in July as against $23.28 billion in the same month last year.

Declining exports as well as in imports narrowed the trade deficit in July to $7.76 billion as against $13.09 billion in the year-ago period.

Exports have been falling since December 2014 due to weak global demand and slide in oil prices.

As per the data released by Commerce and Industry Ministry, imports in July were at $29.45 billion, down 19.03 per cent from $36.37 billion in the same month a year ago.

Gold imports dropped over 64 per cent to $1.08 billion, from $2.97 billion in July 2015. Import of the precious metal has been declining sharply due to measures like higher customs duty and gold schemes.

Gold used to be the second most imported item in the country after petroleum. Data revealed that imports of petroleum, crude and related products fell 28 per cent in July, while that of coal, coke and briquettes shrank by about 7 per cent.

:: IMPORTANT DETAILED NEWS ::

WORLD BIO-FUEL DAY OBSERVED ON 10 AUGUST

10 August: World Bio-Fuel Day

The World Bio-Fuel Day was observed across the world. The day is observed every year with an aim to create awareness about non fossil-fuels (Green Fuels).

Background

On 10 August 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) for the first time successfully ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil. His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace the fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.

Thus to mark this extraordinary achievement, World Bio-fuel Day is observed every year on 10th August.

World Bio-Fuel Day in India

On this occasion, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a national-level conference in New Delhi.

In this conference, he estimated that the bio-fuel industry could grow from the current 6500 crore rupees to 1 lakh crore rupees in the next 10 years.

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY CELEBRATED ON 12 AUGUST

12 August: International Youth Day

The International Youth Day was celebrated across the world on 12 August 2016. The theme of the 2016 International Youth Day is - The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.

This year’s Day is about achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

About the theme

It focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production.

Sustainable consumption entails the use of products and services that meet the basic needs of communities while safeguarding the needs of future generations.

The development and promotion of individual choices and actions that increase the eco-efficiency of consumption of all and minimize waste and pollution is critical to achieving equitable socioeconomic development

Background

On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.

The theme of International Youth Day 2015 was - Youth Civic Engagement.

HUPA APPROVES CONSTRUCTION OF OVER 37000 HOUSES FOR URBAN POOR

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) approved construction of 37013 houses for the urban poor in Karnataka and Haryana with an investment of 1491 crore rupees.

These houses will be developed with central assistance of 569 crore rupees.

The project was approved by the inter-ministerial Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee, chaired by HUPA Secretary Nandita Mukherjee.

The total investment in construction of these houses would be to the tune of about 1491 crore rupees.

City-wise details of houses to be built are:

Karnataka: 36254 houses for the economically weaker sections would be constructed in Karnataka with an investment of 1468 crore rupees.

These units will be constructed under Affordable Housing in Partnership component of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for rehabilitation of slum dwellers.

Another 23883 houses will be built in 207 cities and towns in Karnataka for urban poor under the Beneficiary Led Construction component of PMAY (Urban). Union government will provide a total assistance of 558 crore rupees for construction of these houses for urban poor in Karnataka.

Haryana: 759 houses would be built in Haryana at a cost of 23 crore rupees. It will be developed in 11 slum colonies of Yamunanagar-Jagadhari under Beneficiary Led Construction component of PMAY (Urban) at a total cost of 23 crore rupees. Central government will provide an assistance of 11 croroe rupees in this regard.